Fate/Starry Night Lore Site

TL;DR Lore Crash Course

The 5th Holy Grail War (Fuyuki, 2004) went awry. In an attempt to save the world from being consumed by the Grail Mud, a mysterious magus flooded the entire world. Many countries and associations perished during the cataclysm (non-canon chars only). A century passed (2104 now) and humans now live in nomadic cities floating on the ocean.

Each nomadic city is shaped like a star. The more arms they have, the more developed they are. Each city has their own internet, radio signals, and databases. They are essentially isolated from one another in terms of intercity communication. Ships make up the majority of intercity transportation. Planes and other vehicles exist only in limited quantities across the globe due to the scarcity of fuel.

Magecraft became public knowledge after the cataclysm. Artificial Magic Circuits were developed, as an extra organ, to help humans consume the New World’s atmospheric mana. Their placements on the human body dictate their effectiveness.

The Grail is currently missing. Instead, expensive exoskeletons called S.E.R.V.A.N.T. mystic codes were developed to summon Servants. Their core is a processor chip containing 10% of the Grail’s data. An organization called Republic is responsible for discovering and mass-producing them.

S.E.R.V.A.N.T.s produced by Republic do not come with Command Spells. Instead, they each have a kill switch, accessible only via bonding. Summoned Servants can only replenish mana via bonding with a Master, or ingesting Mana Batteries, which is a common commodity. Severing a bond will backfire on a Master’s Artificial Circuits, which can be dangerous depending on its location.

An online database called ServantPedia™ has info on most Heroic Spirits summoned to date. Each city has a copy of the database, which is periodically updated.

Aside from Republic, 2 other organizations are known worldwide (to the players):

Neo Holy Empire, the New World’s holy church. It has its own mission of recovering 100% of the Grail’s data and is often at odds with Republic, who refuses to cooperate. The Church often dispatches its followers and Executors to oversee HGWs, in addition to other missions.

Alexandria, the New World’s archive. A megalopolis that aims to recover and preserve every piece of data and artifact from both the Old and the New World. Despite its neutral stance, it has an amicable relationship with the Church, who is open to information exchange unlike Republic.

Differences from canon fate

History

During the 5th Holy Grail War set in Fuyuki (2004), a catastrophe occurred near the end of that ritual. A Grail failed to produce a wish and there was no determined winner, resulting in the leftover energy produced by the defeated Servants to turn into thaumaturgical energy, also known as the ‘Grail Mud’. This mud spread across Fuyuki, devouring the entire city as it grew in size with each landmark, building or organism it consumed. As such, it wasn’t long until the rest of the world had to contend with the Grail Mud.

At its current rate, it was simply a matter of time until the mud consumed the entirety of the Earth. As such, Magi were forced to take the spotlight and defend themselves from this catastrophe via Magecraft and Servants of their own. This resulted in commoners finding out that Magecraft was real, gradually reducing the overall Mystery in the world and weakening Magecraft itself.

Unfortunately, not even the combined efforts of the Mage’s Association and several other Magi organizations could halt the mud’s pace. At best, it could be slowed down. Because of this, some Magi started to think about how to survive in a world completely corrupted by Grail Mud. This resulted in Magi working alongside scientists and engineers, which led to the creation of the nomadic cities. Unfortunately, their structure was deemed too weak to resist the potent curses of the mud.

At least, until one lone Magi appeared. They had no backing from any organization and no one knew their identity, but they had apparently been inscribing runes all around the world. Once they were done, they confronted the mud itself and activated the runes, resulting in a massive flood of purifying waters all around the globe. This dramatically stopped the advance of the mud, since the purifying waters seemed to oppose it somewhat.

The catch, however, was the fact that the entire world was flooded. Due to how sudden and mysterious the flood was, certain Magi organizations had no time to prepare at all and therefore, perished by the very flood that was supposed to save them. Only the Mage’s Association survived, albeit its numerous branches dwindled in size as it was forced to turn the Clock Tower into a nomadic city to survive. The rest of the world followed suit, using the nomadic cities as a way to live in the flooded world.

A century passed and the year is now 2104. Nomadic cities have become the de facto way of life as both commoners and Magi live alongside one another. Magecraft and Servants have become commonplace, resulting in the overall death of Mystery and the gradual erasure of Magecraft’s power. As such, Artificial Circuits have become commonplace, along with S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes to ensure the summoning of Heroic Spirits without a Grail. The mud still exists and is still a threat, but far less so than it was in the past. The world is slowly returning to something inhabitable…

Magic

Overview

Under this setting, True Magic is considered a dead art, while Magecraft and the Throne of Heroes have been greatly weakened due to them becoming public knowledge. Even the Counterforce has ceased its activity altogether in this world.

Because of this, Magecraft has been modernized and supported by technological advancements such as Artificial Magic Circuits and Mystic Codes.

Mana & Magic Circuits

Humans in the New World are unable to harvest atmospheric mana through their own magic circuits. Instead, artificial magic circuits are installed as an extra organ in order to bypass this restriction, filtering and converting atmospheric mana into something anyone can use.

Placements of artificial circuits matter a great deal when it comes to their strength and efficiency. Installing them in low risk locations (limbs, shoulder etc.) will result in reduced effectiveness, while high risk locations (spine, heart, eyes etc.) will raise their compatibility past a user’s natural parameters.

Overloading artificial circuits can result in harm to the user’s internal organs, the destruction of their natural circuits and in more extreme cases, death. Aside from stress accumulated from using magecraft, severing the bond between a Servant and their Master can also place the Master’s artificial circuits under great stress, which usually results in the destruction of those circuits.

Mana Batteries

Concentrated storage of mana filtered from the atmosphere through new and improved scientific methods. They resemble tiny capsules similar to multi-vitamins and are commonly drunk by S.E.R.V.A.N.T.s. They are sold in a variety of stores, ranging from convenience stores to supermarkets. Servants aren’t allowed to purchase them legally, unless accompanied by a master. This does not stop certain Servants from trying to obtain them illegally or without consent, of course.

Without bonding or mana transfer, this is the only way for a Servant to replenish their mana. After bonding or establishing mana transfer, a Servant can no longer process mana batteries.

A Master may ingest mana batteries to quickly replenish their mana as well. However, the raw mana from these batteries are akin to poison at such large quantities. It is an adverse side effect that cannot be downplayed IRP. Consult a mod if you wish to do so.

New World Mages

Artificial Magic Circuits granted everyone the privilege of becoming a magus. However, access to mana and competency are different matters. Most people with no prior training in magecraft can only use their artificial circuits to perform menial tasks at best.

However, while artificial circuits do not automatically make a great mage out of everyone, they can still turn them into living mana batteries and allow them to interact with an array of mana-powered contraptions.

Due to the prevalence of magecraft, there is no discrimination between those born with natural circuits and those who solely rely on artificial circuits. However, mages with both high ranking natural and artificial circuits are still rare.

Infrastructure

The World at Large

Magecraft and Technology have been supporting each other ever since the cataclysm. This caused humanity’s technological progress to skyrocket, thanks to the assistance of Magecraft which made the ‘impossible possible’.

Due to the difficulty of locating all the cities/ships scattered across the globe, it takes monumental effort to conduct research on a global scale. The following are information extrapolated from the census conducted between 2095 and 2100, thanks to the continuous effort by Alexandria and affiliated archive cities.

Population: ~1.5 billion
Number of Stars (Cities): ~800
Landforms: The world has been completely flooded. The water is only a few thousand meters deep, yet for some reason, even the tallest mountains have disappeared from the surface. The water itself remains nigh impenetrable past the 1000 meters mark.
Natural Resources: Scarce. The natural generation of resources such as ore and fuel remains a highly specialized craft. Cities that have successfully manipulated their leylines and foundations to do so are highly coveted.
Vehicles: Traditional vehicles and machines are severely limited in scale and availability. Most cities that aren’t Stella Maris tier only have public transportation available. Compared to ships, airplanes are a rare commodity. Rental services are available, though they are usually reserved for the most influential persons and cities.
Communication: Communication on a global scale is slow and severely limited compared to the Old World. Emails are no longer instantaneous, and intercity calls are expensive. Refer to the rest of this section for details.

Nomadic Cities

The majority of humans have taken to the sea ever since the cataclysm destroyed and flooded most of the habitable lands. They reside in nomadic cities, which are not only propelled by modernized sea rune Magecraft, but high tech stabilizers and artificial soil.

Each nomadic city takes on the shape of a star with either 8, 6, 4, or 2 arms. The more arms there are, the bigger and more developed the city is…

Classification
The 8 armed star (Stella Maris) Capacity (humans): Up to 10 million Number of Stars: ~30 These are mostly megapolises that have fully developed. They act like an average old world city, with a wide array of facilities that cater to people from different backgrounds. While they don’t specialize in anything specific, these cities tend to be the most robust in both the technological and magecraft scene, since they have become hotspots for other, lesser cities to latch onto and trade with.
The 6 armed star (Cynosura) Capacity (humans): Up to 5 million Number of Stars: ~150 These cities’ developments are usually propelled by specializing in specific departments such as being the center of commerce, research, and the cultivation of various goods. While more ambitious cities set out on turning themselves into a megapolis, the majority are content with their status and are happy to remain as a lesser, albeit fully functioning city.
The 4 armed star (Dhruva) Capacity (humans): Up to 1 million Number of Stars: ~600 These cities are a lot smaller and a lot more restricted in function, usually unable to fully sustain themselves and have to import various goods to keep the city running. However, this in turn makes them more focused in serving their respective purposes. In addition, their smaller size grants them the capability to migrate on water, albeit at a much slower pace that most ships.
The 2 armed ‘star’ aka ships (Polaris) Capacity (humans): Up to 5 thousand Number of Stars: Varies Due to resource constraints, ships make up the majority of the new world’s intercity transportation. For simplicity’s sake, all ships are classified as 2 armed ‘stars’ due to them taking on the shape of a thin diamond from the bird’s-eye view. These can be as small as a boat or as large as a cruiser, serving various functions such as transportation, entertainment, cargo, or militaristic.

City Wide Web (CWW/Citynet)

The World Wide Web has fully collapsed due to the flood. Radio and phone signals also became a thing of the past as humans were forced to restore their world without having these tools at their disposal.

However, once the nomadic cities finally found their footing, so did magi and network specialists. They cooperated in an attempt to revive these lost arts of humanity, and succeeded with the development of the City Wide Web, known as CWW or Citynet for short.

CWW functions similarly to the internet, except that it is tied down to a nomadic city instead of having multiple data centers across the globe. As such, humans can only access data from their city, meaning that they cannot obtain data from neighbouring nomadic cities easily. It is possible to send data to other cities and access their data, but the further away a city is, the longer it takes to receive a response.

Sending an email from one city to another city on the opposite of the globe, for example, would take at least 2 hours. This is because the signal would need to pass through numerous cities in order to reach its destination, due to the lack of fiber networks in a world filled with water.

However, some resources are shared between all cities. Important resources such as Servantpedia™ and old world data are stored inside special hard drives belonging to the network managers of each nomadic city. These drives are periodically updated with new data and constantly monitored by the city network. Every city owns at least one of these special hard drives. This allows even the average citizen to be able to access these resources through the city’s own search engine.

But this only applies to events from the old world or news that is more than a few months old. Recent events, in comparison, are usually kept under wraps and limited to the city in which they occurred in. Most nomadic cities usually keep to themselves, unless their information is incredibly useful and needs to be accessed by another city for political or financial reasons. In these cases, an exchange of data between the two cities usually occurs, or in the worst case scenario, negotiations break down and nobody walks away with anything.

Cities that take smaller cities under their wing also take advantage of the CWW. When two cities form an alliance and merge into a single city, their data centers are usually merged with each other, resulting in both of them sharing the same CWW and allowing citizens from both cities to access each others’ resources. Said data centers are also constantly synced and updated with one another. Of course, this doesn’t apply to allied cities that haven’t merged into one entity.

Radio Towers and Phones

Just like the CWW, magi and network developers united forces and managed to restore radio and mobile towers to the world. These towers are bound to nomadic cities and manage to transmit a signal that encompasses areas that go beyond the city, allowing the signal to reach even people outside of the city. This is incredibly helpful for contacting neighbouring cities or nearby travellers.

Every tower in a city utilizes its own network, meaning that travellers with phones will have to change SIMs at every city in order to be able to make calls. As such, some make it a habit to carry multiple SIMs on them, especially if they often travel from city to city.

Of course, dead zones are far more common in this world than they were in the old world. As such, phones are mostly only used in the city, and rarely used outside of it.

Transportation

Nomadic cities are capable of moving on their own as the name implies. The movement is necessary to avoid the Grail Mud’s gradual corruption of the surrounding environment, along with allowing cities to constantly travel to new areas in the search of resources and neighbouring cities. This process is slow, and it could take months or even years for two cities to dock with each other.

Intercity transportation instead mostly relies on ships. Ships are commonly used as cargo transport as well as travelling transport. Most nomadic cities have at least one arm (since they are star shaped) that functions as a dedicated docking zone, allowing for ships to arrive and depart with the greatest of ease. This facilitates trading in the New World and allows the nomadic cities to thrive even in this harsh environment.

Jets and planes are also sometimes used as intercity transportation, but are incredibly rare and inefficient due to the costs involved. Planes usually require their own, specialized airport islands in order to even take off in the first place. Only incredibly rich people, usually members of important organizations, are able to afford such luxury items.

Domestic travel is a bit more subdued. Public transport is a lot more common in the current year, with some cities having trains, railways, funiculars, subways, skyways and so on. However, what all of these numerous systems have in common is that they are linked to leylines. Without leylines, transportation systems simply do not work, hence why nomadic cities value them so much.

Weather

Most nomadic cities are outfitted with weather domes, thanks to the blueprints for them being present in every nomadic city database. It is unknown who first inserted them there, but this person has long since been forgotten by even the oldest of ancestors.

Regardless, weather domes have become a common necessity for nomadic cities. These artificial blankets make the cities almost look like snow globes, with the domes capable of changing the weather gradually or rapidly. A day can have rain, but can immediately have sun just a few minutes later. It all depends on the will of the city’s leaders along with their current power output.

The weather domes are surprisingly efficient and do not require too much power to remain operational. However, their functionality is reliant on the leylines, so destruction or malfunction of the leylines could permanently damage the weather system.

Currency & Trading

Traditional paper money lost its value after the apocalypse, with cities starting to value resources and materials instead. However, the rulers of various nomadic cities would be surprised at the existence of hidden tokens inside their respective city databases.

All city databases come with a limited amount of NAT (New Atlas Tokens). The tokens generated for each city seem to be dependent on the city’s size, with Dhruva type cities having only around a few hundred million tokens while Stella Maris have trillions.

Initially, these tokens seemed to have no purpose at all. However, further analysis revealed that the amount of tokens a city held directly impacted the city’s overall power output. The more tokens a city had, the more efficient it was, and therefore, the longer it would last.

It didn’t take long for the rulers to turn NATs into a uniform currency that was utilized worldwide. The rarity of the tokens, coupled with the inability to produce any new tokens, meant that gaining new tokens relied on trading with other cities. It is therefore not uncommon to see cities trade NATs with neighbors in exchange for goods like crops or clean water.

Even common citizens are capable of using NATs. NATs are what most citizens receive as their salary for their work, and it is a universally accepted currency in most nomadic cities. Of course, due to NATs directly impacting the city’s functionality, citizens are taxed on a monthly basis by their local government in order to keep powering the city.

Alternate Currencies

Some cities find NATs far too valuable to be traded, due to these tokens directly affecting the city’s performance. Therefore, they only trade via goods and exchanges. It is not uncommon to see two cities trade not through tokens, but through a simple bartering process. A city that is lacking meat, for example, is willing to trade crops with another city in exchange for meat.

Large organizations, like Republic and the Neo Holy Empire, have also attempted to introduce their own currencies into the business. Cities under Republic’s control commonly use RES (Republic Ensured Salary) as their main currency and ask for their citizens to use that currency for all of their transactions. Likewise, the Church uses DAD (Deacon’s Ascendant Denar) as their currency of choice.

Both RES and DAD are digital currencies, but the organisations behind them also allow for the printing of plastic currency for ease of transport and added security against hacking. This has actually contributed to the resurgence of banks in certain business orientated cities.

Laws & Enforcement

Despite humanity’s struggles and the nomadic cities trying to band together to survive, there will always be selfish individuals who value themselves above the rest. While this certainly applies to the ruling class of certain cities, it can also apply to the underbelly. Criminals aren’t an uncommon sight in nomadic cities and will usually steal, rob and murder any unsuspecting victim just to survive.

Due to the lack of resources to provide proper jails and containment cells, criminals are treated harshly in the new world. Those who commit minor offences, such as theft or robberies, have their properties and goods relinquished and are forced to start back from ‘zero’ as a low class citizen. If they lack goods to seize altogether, they are instead given a debt to pay back and are forbidden from leaving the city until they do so.

Those who commit murder or severe crimes are exiled from the city altogether, usually denied even basic supplies such as food or water. It is considered to be the same as a death sentence.

The law enforcement in nomadic cities varies, but most of the time it is controlled by the ruling class. Aristocrats, businessmen and governors will commonly elect a group of trusted Magi to serve as their watchful dogs that monitor the city. While this can lead to citizens being protected, it can also lead to abuse from those same enforcers. It isn’t a rare sight to see cities be filled with corrupted law enforcement.

Church controlled cities have their own, unique brand of law enforcement which is composed of Executors that have failed the Executor exam. Despite lacking the aptitude to be an Executor of the Church, these ‘failures’ are far more capable than the average Magus and are unconditionally devout to the Church, resulting in low corruption rates amongst Church affiliated cities.

Location

Overview

Locations are added and updated as they become relevant with each passing season. You are free to base your characters on them, or simply use them as inspiration and context for the current happenings in the RP.

Persepolis

Type: Dhruva
State: HGW location Evacuated Auctioned
Relevance: Season 1, Season 2
Background: One of the many Dhruva type cities that used to make a living by renting out their space to other cities, be it for Holy Grail Wars or other purposes. Republic’s research labs used to conduct S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame trial runs here during the early days of its development as well.

Persepolis went into decline in recent years due to rental requests being scarce, and its Aristocrat and Mafia factions waged their own Holy Grail War over the ownership of the city (Season 1). In the end, the Grail turned out to be fake and blew up its major leylines. Its citizens had to evacuate to other cities as a result.

Currently, two Cynosura type cities are holding a tournament over Persepolis’ ownership. (Season 2)

Olympia

Type: Cynosura
State: Operational
Relevance: Season 2
Lore + Map: https://faterp.netlify.app/maps/map_olympia.html

Background: A Church-affiliated, heavily industrilized city that makes a living on the manufacturing and exportation of various goods. Factories are Olympia’s lifeline; some of them far exceed the scale and capability of standard factories in other lesser cities. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that there is nothing Olympia cannot mass-produce.

Olympia gives priority to fulfilling orders that directly come from the Neo Holy Empire. It likely holds several valuable blueprints frequently used by the Church staff. As such, the Church often stations their agents within the city under the name of protection.

In Olympia, one’s social standing is dictated entirely by their lineage. The aristocracy monopolizes the factories and, by extension, the factory workers. The average citizen is able to lead a comfortable life in Olympia so long as they abide by the law and work hard. However, they have no say in political matters.

Currently, Olympia is in the middle of a bidding war over Persepolis’ corpse. Since the city itself lacks no resources, its ruling class is doing so entirely as a display of wealth and power.

Delphi

Type: Cynosura
State: Operational
Relevance: Season 2
Lore + Map: https://faterp.netlify.app/maps/map_delphi.html

Background: An independent trade center that actively involves itself in intercity business around the globe. Trading, sharesholding, consultation, investment, so long as there’s profit, Delphi won’t ever turn down an offer.

Delphi’s social hierarchy could be described as ‘lawless’. Within the city, it’s every man for themselves…but only in a business sense. Anyone is allowed to open up their own firm, and anyone is allowed to crush their competitors, so long as it’s within legal confines. As a result, one’s political standing in Delphi is almost always tied to the success of their business.

As such, Delphi’s ruling class changes annually. Only those who are competent, or lucky enough to make it in have the right to make major decisions for the city.

Currently, Delphi is in the middle of a bidding war over Persepolis’ corpse. It wishes to use the extra resources to expand itself into a Stella Maris grade city. With its economical prowesss, it’s extremely confident on winning the bid.

Alexandria

Type: Stella Maris
State: Operational
Relevance: Season 1
Background: Also known as the New World’s Archive, Alexandria is a megalopolis that aims to recover and preserve every piece of data from both the Old and the New World. It houses the world’s largest, most up-to-date database, as well as public libraries, museums and warehouses full of books and artifacts that are available for rental.

Alexandria’s only goal is to archive human history. It does not meddle in political affairs, nor does it seek to use its information network for monetary gains. As such, it manages to maintain an amicable relationship with most major factions, especially those who are open to information exchange.

Aside from Alexandria, multiple smaller-scale library cities also exist as its subsidiary. Some of them report directly to Alexandria, while others choose to work for other cities or factions. Those that do not work directly under Alexandria usually do not have the authorization to access more classified data.

S.E.R.V.A.N.T.s

Sentient Embedded Real-time Verbose ApproximatioN Technology

Overview

Technology now has a symbiotic relationship with Magecraft, which is further proven by the newly developed S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes.

S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes are similar to normal Mystic Codes. They are magical artifacts that are similar to golems and automatons in design, but with modern technology serving as their structure. Their chassis and exoskeleton is entirely manmade, being a husk that is similar to a cyborg-like body merged with their properties enchanted by magecraft.

S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes enable the summoning of Heroic Spirits in the absence of the Holy Grail.

Origin

The creation of S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frames is still a mystery. No one knows who created the first processor, but it most likely was someone from after the cataclysm. Aside from containing 10% of the Grail’s data, the processor is also engraved with information on what happened to humanity after that tragic event, keeping summoned Heroic Spirits up to date with the most recent happenings.

However, this is most odd, since the Holy Grail is theorized to have been destroyed after the cataclysm, so it is unknown on how the Grail’s data could be stored inside a processor.

Regardless, Republic is credited as the organization that first discovered it.

Spirit Core

The Core of a S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame is designed on principle to be the closest thing possible to a Spirit Origin Core. Engraved in that core is a powerful processor, one strong enough to hold a mere 10% of the lost Holy Grail’s data within.

These complex calculations and remnants of True Magic are normally idle, but activate upon interacting with a summoning ritual. A singular command is then run through the processor, the only feasible command out of the 10% that could be obtained from the Grail: ‘Summon Heroic Spirit’.

Once a Heroic Spirit is summoned, the Mystic Code’s functions gradually change. The processor goes inactive, preventing further summons and becoming the Servant’s own Spirit Core.

A used, but well-preserved processor chip is a highly effective summoning catalyst. It can almost, without fail, enable the summoning of the same Heroic Spirit, or a Heroic Spirit with strong ties to the original inhabitant of the processor. As such, deactivated processor chips belonging to powerful Heroic Spirits are highly coveted.

Serial Number

Every S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame comes with its own unique serial number inscribed onto their core during production. Each Servant summoned through it can be tracked and forced to shut down via Republic’s central network that monitors these Mystic Codes.

Serial Number Naming Scheme

Every serial number is formed by four sections: Class, Origin, Death, and a Random Number Identifier.

For example, the Serial Number for the prodigious Servant, King Arthur, would be written as SBGB050169.

SB = Saber
GB = Great Britain, their birthplace and origin of their legend.
0501 = Start of 6th Century, which is Arthur’s rumoured death date.
69 = Two random digits created by the system. Used as unique identifiers in case two Servants share the same class, origin and death.

Further examples are listed down below. Certain Servants are given special serial codes, mostly unique identifiers that only owners of the central network can understand. They are usually given to ‘peculiar’ Servants that are worth paying special attention to.

Serial Number Examples

ARUR250033 = Gilgamesh
LCIR000101 = Cu chulainn
RDMA032367 = Alexander The Great
ASJP161220 = Sasaki Kojiro

Serial Number Legend

Deactivation

The unique serial number in each S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame allows for its deactivation via Republic’s central network. This essentially works as a kill switch that lets a master disable the Mystic Code, effectively killing their Servant.

A master has access to said kill switch only if they have bonded with the servant and gained access to the serial on the Mystic Code’s core. Otherwise, management of said servant is done via Republic’s central network.

Once initiated, deactivation via the kill switch cannot be revoked. It is the highest privilege granted to the Master who has bonded with the Servant.

A Servant can, however, technically escape the kill signal by leaving the city they inhabit and avoiding contact with a city’s radio waves. However, this is merely a temporary solution, since cities are the only locations in the world where one can obtain mana batteries. In a sense, they would be dooming themselves to a slow death since they cannot absorb atmospheric mana and lack a Master.

Mana Upkeep

A Servant summoned within a S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame has specific ways to manage their mana upkeep:

1. Obtaining mana batteries that are designed specifically for S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes. They are commonly available, be it at convenience stores or supermarkets. Only Masters have permission to purchase them legally (See Magic-Mana Batteries).
2. Traditional mana transfer sessions.
3. Mana sharing enabled by establishing a bond with a Servant (see Summoning & Bonding).

Unlike in the past, Servants in this setting cannot gather raw mana or ether from the environment itself (see Magic - Mana & Magic Circuits).

Availability

Despite the prevalence of S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frames, they are still costly to obtain, both legally and illegally. Owning a unit is a hefty investment akin to owning a luxury car, and incidents such as stolen frames are rampant in poorer districts of nomadic cities.

Masters can either purchase a fresh S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame to activate themselves, or they can go to auctions and bid on ‘prebuilt’ Servants summoned by other, more competent mages.

Aside from competitive environments such as Holy Grail Wars, Servants have fully integrated themselves into the average city life. Their purpose isn’t always stellar, sometimes reduced to being trohpies for the wealthy or doing manual labour that keeps a city running.

Naturally, not all summoned Servants are content with their new status. Rebellious Servants are quite common, but the existence of the kill switch forces most of them to be complacent. Despite this, Heroic Spirits are still very much necessary for humanity due to the amount of threats that pervade the world.

Auctions

Many skilled mages are willing to summon Heroic Spirits for buyers in exchange for goods, wares or money. These buyers then put up the Heroic Spirits for sale on auctions, allowing any individual rich enough to purchase them, be it in person or online via the CWW.

These auctions are usually approved by Republic and a license must be purchased in order to legally hold an auction. This doesn’t stop black market auctions from happening, however.

ServantPedia™

Much like magecraft, the widespread summoning of Heroic Spirits has caused humanity to devalue them as a whole. The identity of most Heroic Spirits can be deciphered from a quick online search via an app called ServantPedia™, which contains profiles of most summoned Servants to date. Each nomadic city keeps a copy of ServantPedia’s database and syncs it periodically via Republic’s networks.

Summoning & Bonding

Summoning

Once a S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frame’s core is activated, it will instinctively attempt to summon a Heroic Spirit. A successful summon results in the core morphing the cybernetic body of the Mystic Code into a facsimile of the Heroic Spirit that was summoned.

At this point, the Mystic Code is considered more Servant than golem and it becomes impossible to treat it as a conventional machine. The summoning is permanent and the processor goes inactive, making it impossible to summon a Heroic Spirit twice while using the same Mystic Code.

A Servant summoned via this method will retain all of its memories from the Throne of Heroes, along with the memories it obtained from the processor (what happened to humanity post cataclysm). A Servant will also realize the nature of its mechanical body, but most likely won’t do anything about it since it is no different than having a body purely made of Ether (in FSN) or Data (in Fate/Extra).

Command Spells?

As of now, none of the S.E.R.V.A.N.T. frames on the market have been able to generate Command Spells upon summoning a Servant. The processor chip’s 10% of the Grail’s data simply does not include this necessary function.

Without this safety feature, Servant summons have become even more of a double edged sword. Clear, effective communication is more vital than ever, as the Servant is no longer forced to obey their Master and could easily turn on them at the drop of a hat. As a result, the only ways to exercise some degree of control over a summoned Servant is via their mana intake and the kill switch.

Despite Republic’s various research departments pouring vast amounts of resources into the endeavor, progress has been slow and no noticeable improvements have been made. In place of Command Spells remains only a crude alternative that aims to mimic the same role at controlling a summoned Servant: Bonding.

Bonding

It is possible for anyone (including commoners) to forge a connection with a Servant’s processor core, so long as the following conditions have been met:

1. The potential Master has installed artificial magic circuits on their body, which are used to sync up to the processor core to establish an initial connection.
2. The Servant in question isn’t bonded to anyone else at the moment.

The bond grants the master unrestricted access to the processor core’s serial and by extension, the kill switch that can permanently shut down the Servant unit. This protocol bypasses any defensive mechanism the Servant may set up to prevent their shutdown, and overrides any command issued by the head company monitoring the Servant via their central network.

The act of bonding itself varies, depending on the traits of the Servant. Some Servants demand specific types of actions to form a connection, which is usually tied to their myth or their feats. As such, there is no universal way to perform a bond and it is a case-by-case basis. Because of this, some Masters forego bonding altogether, in case they do not fit the Servant’s criteria.

Severing the Bond

There are multiple ways to sever an established bond:

1. Deactivating the Servant via its kill switch (initiated by the Master).
2. Destroying the Master’s artificial mana circuits (initiated by anyone).
3. Killing the Servant and/or master (initiated by anyone).

After severing the bond, a Servant is able to bond with a new Master provided that they still live. A Master is able to bond with a new Servant provided that their artificial mana circuits have not been damaged.

Risks of Severing the Bond

Severing the bond places great strain on a Master’s artificial magic circuits, which they used to forge the bond. The damage caused is dependent on the location of said artificial circuit.

In addition, severing a bond will plague the current Master with memories of the Servant’s previous Masters in the form of severe hallucinations, a condition labeled as Erosion by current day researchers. Prevention of this backflow of memory is impossible. Prediction of when the hallucinations will hit is impossible. Prolonged exposure to these hallucinations may have negative consequences on a Master’s day-to-day life. Suppressants in the form of pills can alleviate the symptoms somewhat, but they will never truly go away.

Therefore, Magi and Commoners are generally ill-advised to contract with a Servant via bonding unless they have adequately steeled themselves for the consequences. Likewise, if you see a stray Servant in a cardboard box on the side of the street begging for a new owner and/or mana batteries, please call the Servant Shelter Hotline at xxx-xxxx to arrange a retrieval service instead.

Neo Holy Empire

The Holy Church

Like in the original Fate/Stay Night, the Holy Church is an organization that specializes in the hunting of heresy and demons. Being a subsection of the Roman Catholic Church, it works from the shadows through zealots known as Executors and agents of the Burial Agency. They have a tenuous relationship with the Mage’s Association and are also known to monitor Holy Grail Wars as impartial and unbiased judges, albeit there have been rumours of them favouring certain sides over the other.

Unfortunately, like any other large organization in the world, the Holy Church crumbled and split off in the face of the apocalypse. The Grail Mud destroyed its base, and its unique miracles could not save it. Numerous holy relics were lost and the pope was reported missing once the Grail Mud submerged the entirety of Rome.

However, some of the agents of the Holy Church saw warning signs of the impending apocalypse. Rejecting the orders of the pope, they split off the Holy Church in advance and started roaming the world once the apocalypse started. Eventually, they came across a prophet. A ‘messiah’ that would lead them to salvation…

The messiah gathered more followers, and the former agents of the church assisted them in their endeavours. Eventually, the Holy Church would be reborn as the Neo Holy Empire, an organization that calls itself the spiritual successor to the Holy Church from 100 years ago. Being founded around a few decades after the apocalypse, this new organization focused on gathering researchers, scientists and traders, but most importantly, devout people who were willing to follow the Lord. They advertised themselves as an organization seeking to archive and preserve the traditions of old, such as numerous religions ranging from Christianity to Hinduism and Buddhism.

Influence

While the majority of its members are still Catholic, the sheer amount of variety in Holy Scriptures has turned it into a peaceful, accepting community that has gathered almost as many members as the Roman Catholic Church in its prime. In the year 2104, the Neo Holy Empire is rumoured to control at least 3 Stella Maris cities, while also having several smaller cities under its protection and guidance. Its relationships with other cities is amicable at best and neutral at worst, but the organization seems to have a distaste for remnants of the Mage’s Association.

Facilities

Being an organization dedicated to research and development, the Church has state of the art science labs, along with numerous archives containing articles, research papers, books and tomes from centuries ago. The Church has attempted to archive all traditions and remnants of the Old World, in order to preserve its culture and allow others to be enlightened by the knowledge of the past while simultaneously pursuing the new. It is not surprising that it has attracted so many people under its care as a result, since numerous researchers have joined the Neo Holy Empire because of the facilities alone. Being devout is nonessential, since the Church knows it cannot be picky.

Magecraft & Tech

The Neo Holy Empire, much like the Holy Church before it, abhors the use of Magecraft, considering it to be something that borders on heresy. Members of the Neo Holy Empire are forbidden from utilizing or learning Magecraft, but they are allowed to learn the Church’s own brand of magic, also known as ‘miracles’ and ‘baptism rites’. Unlike Magecraft, which focuses on affecting the physical world, miracles focus on affecting the spiritual world. Therefore, they are incredibly effective at exorcising demons and evil spirits. They are also very effective against Servants, since their Spirit Origin cores are so fragile in a S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Code that an Executor trained in the art of miracles could probably harm them far easier than any other mage. Magic Resistance skills still apply, however.

The Church instead places a bigger faith on technology, and one could say that most of the new world’s technological advancements are owed to the Church. Its Stella Maris cities are connected to one another via an intricate transport system that is fully powered by traditional means and devoid of Magecraft. The cities themselves are glorious technological megapolises inhabited by some of the greatest researchers of the time period. The only Magecraft present inside the cities are Sea Runes dedicated to letting them float, but the Church has kept this underwraps by claiming that it is a miracle instead.

The Neo Holy Empire also takes advantage of S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes quite often. Due to the lack of Magecraft, most of the cities’ infrastructure was actually made with the assistance of Servants. Even now, Servants are considered to be the heart and soul of cities controlled by the Neo Holy Empire, and are given better rights due to their importance to the Church. However, they are still scorned and treated as second class citizens by most humans, causing some resentment to flow in the city’s darker areas.

Those who are under the Neo Holy Empire’s protection are not encouraged to utilize Magecraft either. However, the Church does not condemn them for using Magecraft to survive, such as if the city they are protecting requires ley lines to allow public transport to function and so on. Its bias towards Magecraft is, however, abundantly clear.

Mission & Goal

The Neo Holy Empire has four main goals in its doctrine:

1. Retrieve the lost holy relics that were dispersed in the apocalypse.
2. Oversee all manners of potential Holy Grail Wars and act as an impartial judge if given the chance to do so.
3. Host Holy Grail Wars during specific seasons in the year.
4. Recover 100% of the Holy Grail’s data.

Due to these goals, the Neo Holy Empire is very interested in the numerous Holy Grail Wars that have erupted since the apocalypse started. It has been closely monitoring HGWs happening in minor cities via its Executors, who have now been repurposed as scouts and overseers of Holy Grail Wars.

Data obtained by the Executors is then filtered back to researchers located at the Church’s capital. The Neo Holy Empire aims to use the numerous Holy Grail Wars as a way to reverse engineer the Grail’s data by seeing it in action numerous times. So far, they have monitored around a hundred or more Holy Grail Wars, each one differing in size and being located in different cities.

However, the reward for such devotion has been minimal. In the span of around a hundred years since the apocalypse happened, the Church has only managed to gather around 10% of the Holy Grail’s data via monitoring alone. As such, they are currently working on an alternative method to gather data on the Holy Grail, but that relies on the assistance of Republic.

The Neo Holy Empire is ruled by various archbishops and popes, but its main leader is an enigmatic figure known as the Pater Patriae. Not much is known about them, besides that the inner sects respect them deeply and that their orders are usually absolute.

Relationships

Despite being an amicable organization that has helped many, the Neo Holy Empire currently has a neutral stance towards Republic. Being an organization that utilizes Servants more than Magecraft, the Church tried its best to appeal to Republic and form an alliance with them. However, attempts to contact Republic seemed futile, as the Neo Holy Empire received radio silence for the most part. Eventually, Republic gave in and replied, only to give a rather blunt message.

“Republic are currently not interested in forming any business partnerships with the Holy Church. If you require customer assistance, please contact our Customer Service hotline instead.”

The audacity behind that message was enough to infuriate most of the higher-ups in the Church. However, the Neo Holy Empire’s leader ordered the organization to stand down and to keep an amicable relationship with Republic. Their word was enough for the others to quiet down, as they resumed their activities instead and ignored Republic.

However, this was a huge blow to the Church, for the reason they contacted Republic was due to them wanting to obtain the 10% Holy Grail Data that was used in the production of S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes. While the Church has obtained their own 10% of data, it is a different category than what Republic obtained, and one could say that their two fragments of data serve two different purposes.

Known Personnel

Executors

Priests and Nuns

Subdivision: Executors

RP Help

The most important takeaways from this section are:

All Executor Candidates are taken in to be raised in curated environments at a really young age. Unlike characters from other sects, Executor Candidates have no reason to remember their real parents, or any conflict that may have occurred prior to their new life. If they do, then they will have been dropped out of the training system. If you wish to create a Church faction member who ‘secretly harbors hate or discontent for the Church’, then the Executor role may not be for you.

As an addendum to #1, please think carefully about how this curated lifestyle may shape your Executor’s mind and body. The specifics on each training city is left vague on purpose, but please exercise common sense when coming up with your Executor’s backstory.

Faith is an important metric in ranking Executor Candidates at the University. However, even Executor Candidates with a low faith ranking are completely loyal to the Church and will always act in its best interests. There is more lore behind this behavior. If you wish to create a Church faction member who ‘secretly wants to sabotage the Church’, then the Executor role may not be for you.

How does low faith come into play then?

Executors with low faith may exhibit erratic behavior, complain more, or have normal-ish values and morals compared to Executors with high faith. However, no matter what they do or what they think and no matter how you may need to write crack to justify yourself IRP, they still place the utmost trust in the Church and will not doubt the Church under any circumstances.

Background

Executor Candidates

Each year, the Church takes in talented kids from all over the world and raises them to become Executor Candidates.These kids are usually no older than 3 years of age, too young to develop long-term memory, but have already shown remarkable aptitude in sports or other physical activities. After separating them from their parents, the kids are then divided into groups of 21 and sent to a few Dhruva type cities that were specially constructed to accommodate their training regimen.

From there on, these Executor Candidates are immediately put into training along with their new ‘siblings’.Their training menu is rigorous and painful, with them being taught various martial arts, baptism rites and weapons by instructors and former executors. Mastery of all of these arts is required for an Executor Candidate to proceed in their training.

During their downtime, depending on the city that houses them, their daily lives could range anywhere from a boarding school lifestyle to downright militaristic. However, one thing remains the same across all cities: various priests and nuns would visit each of them in rotation, teaching the kids general studies and religious studies that are deemed most beneficial to developing their faith.

The training would last until they are 17 years of age.

The Entrance Exam

Each year, the Church would hold a rigorous, multi-course tournament for all Executor Candidates who have finished their training. Of them all, the top 21 scorers who have shown exceptional aptitude are then chosen to enter the University to further their training and become full-fledged Executors.

The Executor Candidates who fail to make the cut would instead become law enforcement officials for various Church-affiliated cities.

The University

Four more years of training awaits the Executor Candidates who passed the ‘entrance exam’. The training usually consists of a lot more field work than before, with a sprinkle of magecraft lessons thrown into the mix under the guise of baptism rites. The University’s ranking system grades each Executor Candidate on three metrics: their physical skills, proficiency in performing ‘miracles’, and faith.

The training is not without accidents. By the time 4 years have passed, it wouldn’t be unusual for a class size of 21 to dwindle to only 13 or 14. Nonetheless, the surviving Executor Candidates would have completed their course. Before they can graduate, they are given a final exam that allows no retakes. Executor Candidates who pass this exam are baptized to be Official Executors and are now legally allowed to commence their service in field operations. Executors who fail are instead demoted to law enforcement or tasked to be teachers/scouts of promising Executor Candidates.

Codenames

Official Executors, along with other high ranking officials, use pasta names as codenames on the job because the admins say so and you can’t convince us otherwise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pasta Here’s a list of pasta names to help you get started :)

Holy Mystic Code

A ceremony is held for each class of Executor Candidates upon entering the University. At the ceremony, each of them would receive a Holy Mystic Code, in the form of a cross-shaped tattoo, on their chest.

The Mystic Code enables them to activate a bounded field that can store a number of weapons and artifacts, so long as they have been branded by the Church.

Additionally, depending on their occupation, other high ranking Church members are also branded with the Holy Mystic Code.

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Become my tier 3 sub guys

Dress Code

Executors’ uniforms are all tailored at Church-affiliated cities. Each uniform may be customized depending on an Executor’s preferences, but they must not cover the center of their chest, where the Holy Mystic Code is tattooed, lest they let the fabric interfere with the Mystic Code’s functions. (Boob windows. Take it or leave it.)

The color palette of each uniform is black with white accents. Accessories are permitted so long as they don’t get in the way of combat.